Coin operated washer-dryer control module

ABSTRACT

To prevent damage to coin operated laundry appliances, such as washers and dryers, by vandals attempting to obtain access to the coin storage area, a coin operated control module is provided completely separate from the laundry appliances and rigidly fabricated from welded steel plate so as to have a rectangular base with three vertical side walls and a rectangular housing portion with three overlapping vertical side walls being secured to the base along the fourth side by hinge means. Threaded fasteners are used to maintain the housing portion and base in its closed position and are accessible only upon removal of a security lock. Conventional manual coin slides are provided solely in the housing portion along with coin storage means to be pivoted away from the base, which carries the timers when access is desired for maintenance purposes, but the coin storage area is separately locked from access by maintenance personnel. The overlapping walls are reinforced along their respective outer edges, hoods are provided around each of the coin slides for their protection, and a removable security locked bar is provided transversely underneath the outermost ends of each of the cantilevered coin slides to normally prevent their damage, but removable for maintenance purposes. A pedestal mount employs a floor plate embedded in concrete and a pipe extending upwardly, with concrete and reinforcing rods within the pipe to resist cutting by sawing, a torch, or the like.

United States Patent [1 1 Magnanelli COIN ()PERATED WASHER-DRYER CONTROL MODULE [75] Inventor: George Magnanelli, Bethesda, Md.

[73] Assignee: Consoles Unlimited, llnc., Silver Spring, Md.

[22] Filed: Mar. 27, 1972 21 App]. No.: 238,288

[52] US. Cl. 194/1, 70/232 [51] Int. Cl. G07f 9/00 [58] Field of Search 194/1, 97; 70/232;

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Joseph J. Rolla AttorneyThomas E. Beall, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT To prevent damage to coin operated laundry appli- WASHE R WASH ER 1 DRYER ""6 DRYER 9 8 Nov. 27, 1973 ances, such as washers and dryers, by vandals attempting to obtain access to the coin storage area, a coin operated control module is provided completely separate from the laundry appliances and rigidly fabricated from welded steel plate so as to have a rectangular base with three vertical side walls and a rectangular housing portion with three overlapping vertical side walls being secured to the base along the fourth side by hinge means. Threaded fasteners are used to maintain the housing portion and base in its closed position and are accessible only upon removal of a security lock. Conventional manual coin slides are provided solely in the housing portion along with coin storage means to be pivoted away from the base, which carries the timers when access is desired for maintenance purposes, but the coin storage area is separately locked from access by maintenance personnel. The overlapping walls are reinforced along their respective outer edges, hoods are provided around each of the coin slides for their protection, and a removable security locked bar is provided transversely underneath the outermost ends of each of the cantilevered coin slides to normally prevent their damage, but removable for maintenance purposes. A pedestal mount employs a floor plate embedded in concrete and a pipe extending upwardly, with concrete and reinforcing rods within the pipe to resist cutting by sawing, a torch, or the like.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNUVPY ms SHEET 1G? 3 COIN OPERATED WASHER-DRYER CONTROL MODULE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Coin operated control modules separate from and for controlling laundry appliances are known, for example as shown in the U.S. Fat. to Taylor No. 3,221,862, issued 1965 and the US. Pat. to Johnston No. 3,076,107, issued 1963. Although these prior devices will concentrate the efforts of a vandal intent upon stealing coins on the module rather than the laundry appliances, they have not been sufficiently secure to withstand the abuse that is becoming increasingly common in many portions of large cities. Thus, businesses have found it uneconomical to provide coin operated laundry appliance service to these areas despite the fact that it is these very areas that contain people generally with insufficient funds to purchase their own laundry applicances, so that the need is great.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome the difficulties of the prior art by providing a control module for the coin operation, in a remote manner, of laundry appliances, which module is contructed simply and securely to withstand the abuse of vandals trying to obtain the money from its coin storage area. Particularly, the module is fabricated from welded steel plate and basically comprises a stationarily mounted rectangular base and rectangular housing portion hinged thereto and secured in its closed position by means of threaded fasteners accessible only by removal of corresponding security locks from connector housings welded to and depending from the'base. The base and housing portion have over-lapping vertical side walls, with the outer ones reinforced along their exposed edge, along the sides other than the side having the hinge.

To provide for ease in maintenance, the laundry appliance respective timers are fixedly mounted onthe base within the chamber formed by the base and housing portion to be accessible only when the security locks are removed exposing the threaded fasteners, which are in turn operated to allow pivoting of the housing portion upwardly away from the base suffrciently to provide free maintenance access to the timers.

Manual coin slides have proved to be quite sturdy and satisfactory, and are mounted solely on the housing portion to cantilever outwardly therefrom. The slides are protected individually by hoods that extend completely around them and outwardly from the housing portion at least as far as the slides they protect. Further, malicious bending of the slides downward about their connection point with the housing portion is prevented by a transversely extending bar closely beneath the outer terminal ends of the coin slides, which bar is normally securely held in place by a security lock, but is removable for maintenance purposes.

When the housing portion is in its open position for maintenance access to the timers, access to the coin storage area is prevented in that it is provided with a security lock accessiblefrom the outside only in theopen position of the housing portion, which coin storage area is carried solely by the housing portion. The coin storage area includes a bottom base plate hingedly mounted on a horizontal axis to the remainder of the housing portion for swinging downward upon opening of its security lock to dispense the coins through an opening provided between adjacent and opposed L- shaped upwardly coin abutment walls provided on the upper face of the bottom plate.

Preferably, the base is mounted by means of a pipe and bottom plate to a floor or the like in a secure and rigid manner, which may include bolts extending through the bottom plate and into the floor, embedding the plate, and filling the pipe with concrete and reinforcing rods.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention are in the following detailed description of the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention coin operated control module with schematically shown washers and dryers;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the control module, with the housing portion and coin storage area open;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of FIG. 2, but with the housing portion tilted back further and the slide protection bar removed;

FIG. 4 is a detail of the head and support unit connection;

FIG. 5 shows a modification; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-section on line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING As shown in FIG. 1, the coin operated control module 1 of the present invention is operatively connected to a source of electrical power through a conventional power cord 2 having the usual type of connector 3 at one end, electrical wires 4, 5, 6, 7 and schematically shown dryers 8, 9 and washers 10, 11, representative of conventional laundry appliances. Such a setup is useful in the laundry rooms of apartment buildings, unattended coin operated laundry center, and the like. The usual timers that are normally found within the washers and dryers 8-1 1 are contained within the module 1 and connected with the appliances by wires 4-7 according to the present invention for their actuation by coin operated mechanisms so that the coin storage area for the entire unit is provided within the module remote from the laundry appliances to remove the reason for vandalizing the dryers and washers and to provide for the safer storage of the coins as will more fully be set forth hereinafter.

The control module includes a base 12, a housing portion 13, a plurality of conventional manually operated coin slide mechanisms 14, 15, 16, 17 to receive coins and transfer them to the interior of the chamber formed by the base 12 and housing portion 13 for operation of their corresponding timer to in turn operate the corresponding one of the laundry appliances 8-11. As seen, each of the coin slide mechanisms 14-17 is mounted by a plurality of screws 18, rivets or the like fasteners, only some of which are shown, to the front wall 19 of the housing portion 13 so that a substantial portion thereof is cantilevered horizontally outward in an exposed manner. To prevent this cantilevered portion of each coin slide mechanism from being damaged, a plurality of hoods are rigidly attached to the front wall 19 of the housing portion 13, so that a hood is provided peripherally around and spaced from each cantilevered coin slide mechanism portion to extend outwardly from the housing portion front wall 19 at least as far as the coin slide mechanisms. These hoods are constructed, preferably, from a bottom horizontal steel plate 20, a plurality of side vertical steel plates 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, and a top steel plate 26 extending upwardly and forwardly from the top wall 27 of the housing portion 13. These plates -26 are rigidly interconnected at their joining edges by welding or integrally from being bent, and rigidly connected at their rear edges by being welded to the, front wall 19 of the housing portion 13. The top plate 26 slopes upwardly and outwardly from the front wall 19 to facilitate access to the coin slide mechanisms 14-17 in depositing coins therein.

The coin slide mechanisms 14-17 are further protected from being bent downwardly by a steel rod 28 that has an enlarged head portion at its right hand side (not shown), as viewed in FIG. 1, a major shank portion, and a transverse through hole at its left hand end (not shown). The shank portion of the rod 28 is slid through correspondingly shaped only slightly over sized aligned holes in the side plate 21, 22, 23, 24, until its enlarged head engages the outer face of the side plate 25 and its transverse through hole just extends outwardly beyond the outer face of the side plate 21, in which position it closely underlies the outer terminal end of the cantilevered coin slide mechanisms 14-17 to reinforce them against being bent downwardly. This rod may be removed for maintenance on the slide mechanisms, and while in place has a further function of preventing removal of the slide mechanisms even if the fasteners 18 were removed. Un authorized removal of the rod 28 is prevented by a conventional security lock of any type, for example a padlock 29 having its shank extending through the above-mentioned through transverse hole in the rod 28. As seen in FIG. 1, very thick projections 30, 31 are welded to the outer face of the side plate 21 on either side of the shackle of the padlock 29 and portion of the rod 28 having therein the through hole, so as to prevent hammering on this area, the use of a hack saw, or the like destructive operations aimed at removal of the padlock 29 and ultimately rod 28.

The stationary base 12 is rigidly secured to the upper end, preferably by welding, of a standard pipe 32, which pipe 32 has its lower end welded or otherwise rigidly secured to a base plate 33, which engages the floor 34. Preferably, buttress plates are welded between the pipe 32 and base plate 33 for reinforcement. Further, bolts 36 may pass through the base plate 33 into the floor 34 to complete the mounting. A secondary floor pour, for example, four inches of concrete preferably embeds the plate 33, bolts 36 and portions of plates 35.

As shown in FIG. 2, the housing portion 13 is generally rectangular and connected along its rear edge by a hinge 38 to the generally rectangular base 12, with the respective leaves of the hinge being welded or otherwiserigidly secured to the base plate 73 and housing portion. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing portion 13 is held in an upward tilted position by brace 39 to provide access to timers 40 mounted by connecting means 41 securely and stationarily to the base 12. A timer is provided for each of the laundry appliances 8-11, with four being shown although it is understood that any number of laundry appliances may be serviced with a corresponding increase in the size of the control module and number of corresponding components. The construction of these timers is conventional and forms no part of the present invention per se. Operation of the coin slide mechanisms 14-17 with the appropriate coin will, in a known manner, actuate the respective timers to correspondingly control operation of the respective laundry appliances, as will be readily understood to one having ordinary skill in the control art.

On opposite sides perpendicular to the hinge 38, the base 12 is provided with vertically upstanding side walls 42, 43, which overlap the corresponding side walls 44, 45 of the housing portion 13 to prevent access to the interior chamber of the control module in the closed postion of FIG. 1. A reinforcing strip or bar 46 is provided on each of the side walls 44, 45 (one being shown completely on the left hand side) immediately adjacent the upper edge of the side walls 42, 43, in the closed position for reinforcing this strategic area, and it is understood that the reinforcement 46 could also be provided on the side walls 42, 43 by welding or the like. Similarly, the front wall 47 of the base 12 extends vertically upward and overlaps the front wall 19 of the housing portion 13 in the closed position of FIG. 1; a reinforcing strip 48 is provided along the outer upper edge of the front wall 47 to lie immediately under the bottom plate 20 of the hood structure where it joins the front wall 19, to reinforce this strategic area against access.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, coins deposited by the coin slide mechanisms 14-17 will drop through respective shutes 49-52 into a coin storage area formed by a portion of the front wall 19, the side walls 44, 45, and intermediate rear wall 53 and a bottom plate 54 hinged at 55 to the intermediate rear wall 53. It will be understood that in the closed operative position of FIG. 1, the bottom plate 54 will be hinged upwardly in a horizontal position to retain coins in the receptacle abovedescribed. In the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom plate 54 is in its downward position wherein coins will be dispensed through an opening 56 and an opening 57 formed between spaced opposed L-shaped coin abutments 58, 59, 60, 61 that extend upwardly from the upper face of the bottom plate 54 to which they are welded. A conventional vending type security lock 62 with an operating key 63 is provided to selectively lock the bottom plate 54 in its upper receptacle forming position, not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, so that access to the coin storage area may not be obtained without authorization even though the housing portion 13 is in its open position of FIGS. 2 and 3 for maintenance to the timer mechanisms. Further, this security lock 62 is accessible only with the housing portion in its open position, that is it is not accessible from the outside when the module is in its closed position of FIG. 1.

To securely hold the housing portion 13 and base 12 together against unauthorized access in their closed position of FIG. 1, one or more, two being shown, security lock mechanisms are provided. Two hollow connector housings 64, 65, identical in construction, are constructed of steel in a cup-shaped form with their upper edge being welded to the lower surface of the base 12 or as specifically shown having a plurality of bolts 66 extending from the upper surface of the base 12, through the base 12 and threadably into threaded bores within the walls of the hollow connector housings 64, 65, so that in either event the connector housings 64, 65, may not be removed from the outside in the closed position of FIG. 1. Within the interior of these hollow connector housing 64, 65 there is the head of a bolt 67 that extends through the base 12 and threadably into nut members 68 in the closed position, which nut members are welded to the side walls 44, 45 of the housing portion 13. Access to the interior of the connector housings 64, 65, from the outside in the closed position of FIG. 1 and thus to the bolt 67 for operation thereof is provided solely through a hole in the bottom wall of each of the connector housings 64, 65, which hole is normally plugged against unauthorized entrance by an Allen wrench or the like by a plug security lock 69, which is per se conventional in the vending art. This security lock 69 may be selectively removed with the aid of a removable key 70 to provide authorized access to the bolt 67 for opening of the control module.

To assist in the manufacture and set up of the console according to the present invention, a head unit containing all of the control and coin operating components is constructed completely separate and as a separate piece to be releasably connected to asupport unit, so that the support unit may first be mounted at a particular location, for example in concrete where the concrete has a setting period, without worry about theft of the head unit, and later the head unit may be attached to the support unit, or the entire head unit may be removed at any time. to be returned to the factory or replaced. Further a head unit with different timers may be substituted, for example with four washers or four dryers.

The support unit comprises the previously described elements 32, 35, 36, 42, 43, 47, 64, 69, 70, and an additional base plate 71, which base plate 71 is integral with by welding or the like the entire lower extent of the side walls 42, 43 and the front wall 47. Further, the base plate 711 is welded as shown in FIG. 4 to the upper end of the pipe 32.

The head unit includes the entire housing portion 13,

and in addition a head unit base plate 73, which plate 73 is rectangular and extends completely within the confines of the side walls 42, 43 and the front wall 47 to the hinge 38, but is not attached in any way to the side walls 42, 43 or the front wall 47. The forward or lower leaf of the hinge 38 is welded to the head unit base plate 73, and the connecting means or bracket 41 with the timers 40 mounted thereon is rigidly secured to the head unit base plate 73. Thus, while the head unit base plate 73 with the connecting means 41 and timers 40 mounted thereon is a part of the base unit 12 in that it remains stationary when the housing portion 13 is tilted upwardly in the position of FIG. 2, it is also a part of the head unit with the housing portion 13 that may be completely removed from the support unit. The head unit base plate 73 merely freely overlies the support unit base plate 71 and is connected thereto only by means of releasable fasteners, to be described below.

Preferably, four releasable fasteners are provided adjacent the four corners of the overlying support unit base plate 711 and the head unit base plate 73, although they are not shown in FIG. 2 in that they are hidden by other components. These fasteners are generally identical and one will be described in detail with respect to FIG. 4. A bolt is provided with a threaded shaft 74 that extends upwardly through a substantially equal diameter hole in the support unit base .plate 71 and through an enlarged hole in the head unit base plate 73, and is further provided with a head 75 that is welded at 76 to the support unit base plate 71. Thereafter, the head may be ground so as to be rounded and not present any wrench engaging surfaces. The hole in the head unit base plate 73 is enlarged to accomodate manufacturing tolerances. A washer 77 and nut 78 are provided as shown to securely clamp the head unit base plate 73 and support unit base plate 71 together. it is thus seen, that the head unit may not be separated from the support unit with any conventional tools, because of the weld 76 and, if desired, grinding. The head unit and support unit may be separated by authorized personnel when the housing portion 13 is unlocked and tilted upwardly to the position of FIG. 2, to provide access to the nuts 78 and washers 77.

One or more, preferably four for the four applicances, electrical conduit or wire openings are provided through the base, as shown in FIG. 2. An appropriate sized hole 79 is provided in the support unit base plate 71 and an enlarged hole 80 is provided in the head unit base plate 73, for each such wire or conduit access hole. Again the enlargement of the hole in the head unit base plate 73 is for the purposes of accommodating manufacturing tolerances.

In the modification of FIG. 5, the connector housing 64' is cylindrical with its upper end welded, if desired to the lower face of plate 71 or it may be merely freely engaging the lower face of plate 71' without any other connection. An internal annular shoulder is formed at the lower end of the connector housing 64, for the reception of the annularclosure member 79. The closure member has three through threaded bores around its periphery, one of which is shown, for the reception of bolts 66'. Thus, the connector housing 64' may be held in position by means of the bolts 66 and the closure members 79 without any welding or the like, which bolts 66' are only accessible from within the timer chamber, so that the connector housing 64 cannot be removed without authorization. The closure member 79 is provided with a downwardly opening internal annular shoulder for receiving therein the lock mounting sleeve 80, which is held in place by means of lock nut 81. This sleeve 80 contains a conventional type of vending plug security lock 69 with a key 70' operation so that the lock 69 may be removed when it is desired to have access to the bolt 67, that functions in the same manner as the previously described bolt 67 for holding the housing portion in its locked closed position. It is thus seen, without welding, that the key 70' may be used to remove the plug security lock 69 to gain access to the bolt 67 for permitting opening of the housing portion to the position of FIG. 2, in which position the bolts 66 may be removed from above to allow removal of the connector housing 64', closure member 79, and sleeve 80.

With the housing portion in the position shown in FIG. 2, it is noted that the bottom plate 54 will be coextensive with the rear wall 53, rather than assuming a vertical position, to assist in the removal of the coins therein, because of a bracing tab 84, shown in FIG. 3, which is rigidly connected substantially coplanar with the bottom plate 54 to engage the back side of the rear wall 53, with respect to the position of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pipe 32 is provided with a plurality of steel reinforcing rods 82, which are preferably three in number and constructed of half inch steel rod. In assembly, these steel rods 82 will extend within pipe 32 completely from the lower face of plate 71 to the upper face of plate 33, and be tack welded in position. Also, it is desirable to provide a hole through the plate 33 smaller than and in alignment with the interior of the pipe 32 so that upon installation, particularly when making the secondary pour to embed the plate 33, concrete 83 may first be introduced through the hole in the plate 33 to completely fill the interior of the pipe 32, as shown in FIG. 6, with the support unit in an inverted position. After thus filling the interior of the pipe 32, the secondary floor pour may be made. This construction has the considerable advantage that the concrete will resist and generally prevent any cutting by means of a burning torch, while at the same time produce an abrasive action against any hack saws or the like that are used in an attempt to cut the steel rods. Further, the steel rods provide the tension interest for the concrete, so that if the pipe were cut with a torch, the concrete could not be broken because of the embedded steel rods 82, which are shielded from cutting by the concrete.

Since operation of the device has been described throughout the above detailed description of the structure, no separate discussion of the operation will be given.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail for purposes of disclosure, further modifications, embodiments and variations are contemplated within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An appliance center, comprising a coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances; said module having a module base; a housing portion mounted said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing, with said base, a chamber and a second position opening said chamber for free access to said chamber; security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position; a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said module for selective operation of the appliances upon receipt of the proper coins and for storing the coins in said chamber; a plurality of laundry appliances corresponding in number with said coin receiving and discriminating means separate from each other and said control module; electric wire means for serially connecting said module in circuit with said laundry appliances and a source of electric power; a pipe rigidly connected at its upper end to said base; said base including a first lower plate integrally mounted on the upper end of said pipe, an upper plate mounting thereon said housing portion, and a plurality of releasable fastener means fixedly connecting said upper and lower plates together and being actuateable only from above said upper plate within said chamber; anchor means connected to the lower end of said pipe; at least one steel reinforcing rod extending substantially the entire length internally of said pipe; concrete embedding therein said reinforcing rod and filling the remaining interior of said pipe; and a concrete floor slab embedding therein said plate and said anchor means of said pipe.

2. The device of claim 1, including hinge means mounting said housing portion on said upper plate to interconnect said upper plate, said coin receiving and discriminating means and housing portion as a head unit completely separable from said lower plate upon actuation of said fastener means.

3. A coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances, comprising: a module base; means stationarily supporting said base; a housing portion mounted on said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing with said base, a chamber and a second position opening said chamber for free access to within said chamber; first security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position; a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions and for selective operation of the timers of the appliances upon receipt of the proper coins; coin storage means within said chamber for receiving coins from said coin receiving and discriminating means; said coin receiving and discriminating means each including a manual coin receiving slide generally horizontally cantilevered from the housing portion for transferring coins from outside of said chamber to inside of said chamber with sliding manual movement thereof; a separate hood peripherally spaced from and extending completely around each of said coin receiving slides, said hoods extending generally horizontally from said housing portion to at least as far away from said housing portion as said coin receiving slides for protection thereof; said hoods having horizontally aligned holes therethrough of a uniform size; said coin receiving slides being generally horizontally in side by side alignment and slide parallel to each other; and a single metallic bar of said uniform size extending transversely to the slide direction closely underneath the outer free terminal end of each of said coin receiving slides and through the aligned holes in said hoods; said hoods forming said holes and said bar constituting means for reinforcing said coin receiving slides against downward blows that would otherwise bend and disable them; and security lock means removably mounting and securing said bar in its operative position.

4. A coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances, comprising: a module base; means stationarily supporting said base; a plurality of separate appliance timer means fixedly mounted on said base for respectively operating the appliances; a housing portion mounted on said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing, with said base, a chamber having therein said timer means and a second position opening said chamber for free maintenance access to said timer means connected in said chamber; first security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position; a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions; said coin receiving and discriminating means corresponding in number to said timers and selectively operating said timers upon receipt of the proper coins; coin storage means within said chamber for receiving coins from said coin receiving and discriminating means; said coin storage means being carried solely by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions relative to said base; and separate second lock means for preventing access to said coin storage means and being located completely within said chamber in the first closed position of said housing portion.

The device of claim 4, including in combination a plurality of laundry appliances separate from each other and said control module, and electric wire means for serially connecting said timers respectively in circuit with said laundry appliances and a source of electric power.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein said coin storage means includes a coin receptacle having a bottom plate hingedly connected along one edge to the remainder of said coin receptacle and upwardly extending opposed L-shaped coin abutment walls secured to the upper face of said bottom plate and spaced apart at their adjacent edged opposite said hinge connection to provide a dispensing opening therebetween for the coins carried therein upon pivoting said bottom plate about its hinge connection downwardly away from the remainder of said coin receptacle in the open position of said housing portion; and said second lock means locking said bottom plate in its closed position.

7. The device of claim 4, wherein said base and housing portion are substantially rectangular in plan view in their closed position; including hinge means interconnecting said base and housing portion axially extending along and connected respectively to adjacent sides of said rectangular base and housing portion; the remaining three sides of said base and adjacent remaining three sides of said housing portion each having vertically extending side walls respectively vertically overlapping and closely adjacent each other in the closed position; and the outer ones of the opposed side walls of said base and housing portion extending perpendicular to said hinge means axis have horizontal means reinforcing means rigidly secured to and extending along substantially their entire upper edge.

8. The device of claim 7, including a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions and for selective operation of the timers upon receipt of the proper coins; said coin receiving and discriminating means each including a manual coin receiving slide cantilevered from the housing portion for transferrring coins from outside of said housing portion to inside of said housing portion with sliding manual movement thereof; a separate hood peripherally spaced from and extending completely around each of said coin receiving slides, said hoods extending from said housing portion to at least as far away from said housing portion as said coin receiving slides for protection thereof; and said housing portion and base side walls parallel to and opposite from said hinge means overlapping inwardly of said hoods and the outer one being carried by said base and extending up to said hoods to a terminal edge closely adjacent the connection between said hoods and housing portion in the closed position.

9. The device of claim 8, including a horizontally extending reinforcing strip rigidly secured to said base outer wall opposite said hinge means along the outer portion of itsfree terminal edge closely adjacent said hoods in the closed position.

10. The device of claim 4, said first lock means including a hollow connector housing integrally connected to and depending from said base, an operable security lock to provide the sole access to the interior of said connector housing, and threaded fastener means extending operatively between said base and housing portion in the closed position for rigidly securing the two together and being accessible for operation only from within said connector housing interior upon removal of its operable security lock. 

1. An appliance center, comprising a coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances; said module having a module base; a housing portion mounted said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing, with said base, a chamber and a second position opening said chamber for free access to said chamber; security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position; a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said module for selective operation of the appliances upon receipt of the proper coins and for storing the coins in said chamber; a plurality of laundry appliances corresponding in number with said coin receiving and discriminating means separate from each other and said control module; electric wire means for serially connecting said module in circuit with said laundry appliances and a source of electric power; a pipe rigidly connected at its upper end to said base; said base including a first lower plate integrally mounted on the upper end of said pipe, an upper plate mounting thereon said housing portion, and a plurality of releasable fastener means fixedly connecting said upper and lower plates together and being actuateable only from above said upper plate within said chamber; anchor means connected to the lower end of said pipe; at least one steel reinforcing rod extending substantially the entire length internally of said pipe; concrete embedding therein said reinforcing rod and filling the remaining interior of said pipe; and a concrete floor slab embedding therein said plate and said anchor means of said pipe.
 2. The device of claim 1, including hinge means mounting said housing portion on said upper plate to interconnect said upper plate, said coin receiving and discriminating means and housing portion as a head unit completely separable from said lower plate upon actuation of said fastener means.
 3. A coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances, comprising: a module base; means stationarily supporting said base; a housing portion mounted on said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing with said base, a chamber and a second position opening said chamber for free access to within said chamber; first security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position; a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions and for selective operation of the timers of the appliances upon receipt of the proper coins; coin storage means within said chamber for receiving coins from said coin receiving and discriminating means; said coin receiving and discriminating means each including a manual coin receiving slide generally horizontally cantilevered from the housing portion for transferring coins from outside of said chamber to inside of said chamber with sliding manual movement thereof; a separate hood peripherally spaced from and extending completely around each of said coin receiving slides, said hoods extending generally horizontally from said housing portion to at least as far away from said housing portion as said coin receiving slides for protection thereof; said hoods having horizontally aligned holes therethrough of a uniform size; said coin receiving slides being generally horizontally in side By side alignment and slide parallel to each other; and a single metallic bar of said uniform size extending transversely to the slide direction closely underneath the outer free terminal end of each of said coin receiving slides and through the aligned holes in said hoods; said hoods forming said holes and said bar constituting means for reinforcing said coin receiving slides against downward blows that would otherwise bend and disable them; and security lock means removably mounting and securing said bar in its operative position.
 4. A coin receiving separate control module to be placed at a convenient location for remote electrical connection to and for controlling the operation of a plurality of appliances, comprising: a module base; means stationarily supporting said base; a plurality of separate appliance timer means fixedly mounted on said base for respectively operating the appliances; a housing portion mounted on said base for movement between a first closed position completely enclosing, with said base, a chamber having therein said timer means and a second position opening said chamber for free maintenance access to said timer means connected in said chamber; first security lock means for securing said housing portion and base in said first closed position; a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions; said coin receiving and discriminating means corresponding in number to said timers and selectively operating said timers upon receipt of the proper coins; coin storage means within said chamber for receiving coins from said coin receiving and discriminating means; said coin storage means being carried solely by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions relative to said base; and separate second lock means for preventing access to said coin storage means and being located completely within said chamber in the first closed position of said housing portion.
 5. The device of claim 4, including in combination a plurality of laundry appliances separate from each other and said control module, and electric wire means for serially connecting said timers respectively in circuit with said laundry appliances and a source of electric power.
 6. The device of claim 4, wherein said coin storage means includes a coin receptacle having a bottom plate hingedly connected along one edge to the remainder of said coin receptacle and upwardly extending opposed L-shaped coin abutment walls secured to the upper face of said bottom plate and spaced apart at their adjacent edged opposite said hinge connection to provide a dispensing opening therebetween for the coins carried therein upon pivoting said bottom plate about its hinge connection downwardly away from the remainder of said coin receptacle in the open position of said housing portion; and said second lock means locking said bottom plate in its closed position.
 7. The device of claim 4, wherein said base and housing portion are substantially rectangular in plan view in their closed position; including hinge means interconnecting said base and housing portion axially extending along and connected respectively to adjacent sides of said rectangular base and housing portion; the remaining three sides of said base and adjacent remaining three sides of said housing portion each having vertically extending side walls respectively vertically overlapping and closely adjacent each other in the closed position; and the outer ones of the opposed side walls of said base and housing portion extending perpendicular to said hinge means axis have horizontal means reinforcing means rigidly secured to and extending along substantially their entire upper edge.
 8. The device of claim 7, including a plurality of coin receiving and discriminating means carried by said housing portion for movement therewith between its two positions and for selective operation of the timers upon receipt of the proper coins; said coin receivIng and discriminating means each including a manual coin receiving slide cantilevered from the housing portion for transferrring coins from outside of said housing portion to inside of said housing portion with sliding manual movement thereof; a separate hood peripherally spaced from and extending completely around each of said coin receiving slides, said hoods extending from said housing portion to at least as far away from said housing portion as said coin receiving slides for protection thereof; and said housing portion and base side walls parallel to and opposite from said hinge means overlapping inwardly of said hoods and the outer one being carried by said base and extending up to said hoods to a terminal edge closely adjacent the connection between said hoods and housing portion in the closed position.
 9. The device of claim 8, including a horizontally extending reinforcing strip rigidly secured to said base outer wall opposite said hinge means along the outer portion of its free terminal edge closely adjacent said hoods in the closed position.
 10. The device of claim 4, said first lock means including a hollow connector housing integrally connected to and depending from said base, an operable security lock to provide the sole access to the interior of said connector housing, and threaded fastener means extending operatively between said base and housing portion in the closed position for rigidly securing the two together and being accessible for operation only from within said connector housing interior upon removal of its operable security lock. 